by newhue » Thu 27 Apr, 2017 5:58 pm
Thanks all I appreciate your comments.
One thing I picked up cutting my teeth bushwalking: to carry water to where there is no water, often results in a camp sight that rewards far more than what it cost to get there. In my head to watch the day settle from a birds domain, as the mountain casts it's great shadow over the land with the sun setting, and stars starting to arrive all seems worth it to me. To sit in the silence of the soft morning light and just observe from what feels like the top of the world is what bushwalking is all about, and perhaps what being alive also feels like.
I don't think I'm pushing boundaries or creating a first. DOC don't say no camping so is it really not allowed or just not promoted. I can walk there, I'm certainly 500m from the formed great walks track, and perhaps I am just seeking a different adventure to the hoards on the Tongariro crossing.
It would be great to find find snow up there, but I think snow in April is at the wrong end of the season for me. So to carry water is just how it is, one thing for certain I will be checking forecasts beforehand though.
I am aware of a small active chimney on top, think its on the Nth Nth Est side from what I can work out from various pics. Can anyone clarify? It smokes a bit like a smoky BBQ, but its not gushing out. I need to do some homework on sulphur or volcanic gases as to weather they rises, sink, and exposure levels to them. I know 30 minutes in White Island was all we could stay, and perhaps 20 minutes was enough as the eyes were watering and the throat starting to burn. That place however is smoking like a wayward bushfire.
It looks like there is a decent half moon gully that runs around the main crater on the Est to Sth side, but I think the vent is at the start of it. There will plenty of air moving around up there, but if sulphur sinks then pitching a tent in the shelter of the gully is questionable. So perhaps a bivouac is the better option weather dependant of course. Having tents may be a nice back up but not much good if we can't pitch them, so it may all be best guess and work with it.